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randomErr (172078) writes "Russia is tightening its grip on free speech and freedom of the Internet by creating a new 'bloggers law'. This policy follows the pattern set by China, Pakistan, Turkey, and Iran."
Any site with more than 3000 daily visitors will be required to register and be held to a number of restrictions, quoting the article: "Besides registering, bloggers can no longer remain anonymous online, and organizations that provide platforms for their work such as search engines, social networks and other forums must maintain computer records on Russian soil of everything posted over the previous six months."

Is the impact of this really limited to Russia? LiveJournal is now based there and, while I'm sure it is used much less today than ten years ago, it must still host a large number of accounts belonging to bloggers in the US and elsewhere. Will real names now need to be attached to these accounts, or will their owner's real names need to be passed to the Russian authorities?

Is the impact of this really limited to Russia? LiveJournal is now based there and, while I'm sure it is used much less today than ten years ago, it must still host a large number of accounts belonging to bloggers in the US and elsewhere.

No, it's not. My wife has been using LiveJournal for a dozen years. She's started moving all the content off there and onto an American hosting service.

You need to learn a little history [wikipedia.org] before you start comparing historic figures.

On 5 March 1940, after the Gestapo–NKVD Third Conference was held in Zakopane, Beria sent a note (no. 794/B) to Stalin in which he stated that the Polish prisoners of war kept at camps and prisons in western Belarus and Ukraine were enemies of the Soviet Union, and recommended their execution. Most of them were military officers, but there were also intelligentsia, doctors, and priests for a total of over 22,000. With Stalin's approval, Beria's NKVD murdered them in the Katyn massacre.

In 1944, as the Germans were driven from Soviet soil, Beria was in charge of dealing with the various ethnic minorities accused of anti-sovietism and/or collaboration with the invaders, including the Chechens, the Ingush, the Crimean Tatars, the Pontic Greeks and the Volga Germans. All these groups were deported to Soviet Central Asia

I do not see any references to McCarthy having thousands of people slaughtered [wikipedia.org] and deporting entire cultures to gulags? While McCarthyism was bad it was nowhere near as bad as what happened in Russia.

That doesn't make it right. I'd rather live in the US with our freedoms and if there are people living here that really find it so oppresive they should take every opportunity afforded them to move to some other utopia. I'm a libertarian and while I find our government too big and overreaching, at the end of the day I'm not denied my life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

Like this dick authoritarian move by Russia, China et al. actions speak louder than words: The United States is not alone in being afraid of democracy... real democracy. Which starts with the more outspoken amongst us rallying together, writing blogs about the social problems we face, proposing solutions, attending OWS type events to agitate peacefully for positive change. Just too bad all those things that make common peoples lives better also happen to conflict with the goal of accumulating even more wealth for the richer parts of society. See graph: 12-country 1975-2007 chart of share of income growth going to The 1% [wordpress.com].

Occupy Wall Street on Trial: Cecily McMillan Convicted of Assaulting Cop, Faces Up to Seven Years

vs.

Which starts with the more outspoken amongst us rallying together, writing blogs about the social problems we face, proposing solutions, attending OWS type events to agitate peacefully for positive change.

Emphasis mine, of course. The two paragraphs contradict each other. Please, try again.

Convicted of assaulting a cop doesn't mean she assaulted a cop. Policing and jailing of protestors is very often political.

In this case the flip side of the story is that she was grabbed on the left breast by a hand from behind, and the person doing so received an elbow in return. Any in other situation, it would be the boob grabber if anyone that would have been at fault. But cops are above the law.

She was convicted AND sentenced by a jury of her peers; not the police, not a judge.

Besides, I looked at the video and when I see the way she hits him and runs, it seems to me she planned on doing that from the get-go. You don't elbow somebody on accident and then run from them. Furthermore, if she was groped, how come she didn't make that claim until way later?

Sorry, but I'm with the 12 jurors on this one. I think 7 years might be excessive, but the law may call for that, and the jurors are instructed to prescribe a sentence based on how the law is written.

Judge: "Mr. McMillan, you are accused of assaulting a police officer. What do you have to say for yourself?"McMillan: "I didn't do it!"Judge: "Officer Smith, did Mr. McMillan assault you?"Officer: "Yep."

The only solutions I have heard from the Occupy movement is "give us your money". I would like to hear others. Do they exist? The Occupy movement is good at pointing out issues but not so good at pointing out solutions.

What happened? Where do I look? For such a highly-moderated comment, you are offering surprisingly few links. Was anyone prosecuted for mere speech? Assaulting a police officer [democracynow.org] — yeah, that's more likely...

It's fairly easy to make any person into a criminal under US law. That's what it's designed for, like laws in most imperial states with need of control over belligerent citizens. All you need to do is locate them and then throw a book at them as the legal experts like to put it.

I'm getting a feeling that you're intentionally misunderstanding the issue.

It's a fact that modern crowd control in the West has many tools. To be able to keep those tools (i.e. general populace not rising up against them having these tools) many of them were pushed into private realm or otherwise obfuscated. Media is controlled through private ownership and editorial policy pushed by owners rather than government and legal framework. Public order can be enforced not just by police but by private guards. Pu

None of those arrested because of the NSA tip-off [reuters.com] were arrested for their speech. It may or may not be in violation of the 4th Amendment, but not of the 1st.

Do you really believe that? The officer grabbed her boob from behind (hard enough to leave bruises in the shape of a hand), she reacted by swinging her elbow at her assailant. If she were somebody else being pulled over by an officer in any other situation, the officer would be the one being prosecuted for assault. While technically she wasn't prosecuted for her speech, clearly she was prosecuted (and persecuted) because of her speech.

And to stay on topic...Russia isn't saying you aren't allowed to blog.

Traffic controls, a relatively sane marketplace, access to certain basic necessities and certain amenities, not worrying about having to get shot when I walk outside my door, to name a few. A trite and somewhat broad response to your question? Quite so. But when you ask trite and overly broad questions that only marginally relate to the original poster, you should expect some stupid answers./climbsoffsoapbox

oh really, who dictates treatment for diseases causing any significant amount of money, physicians or insurance companies? who pushed the family physican who quickly took care of emergent issues into the large healtchare chains? who wages war for profit and to control resources, causing starvation, disease, death, maimings?

Given that the US set back the progress of polio vaccination in the Muslim world by a bogus vaccination campaign designed to hunt down Bin Laden's DNA, wankers fighting over power are in a very real sense responsible for the resurgence of polio.

The US is more capable but we have a long history of voting out that which we don't like. So is your day to day life really changing? Black helicopters. Black suited men at the hipster coffee shop checking you out?

Here in america we have journalistic freedom of speech. If you oppose US foreign policy or help expose secret illegal government programs we find it to be patriotic and sacrosanct. Moxie Marlinspike once helped a foreign journalist expose illegal american programs and he certainly wasnt ever targeted for random detention in airports because that would be unamerican. We never secretly spied on the New York Times when they reported on the NSA's illegal activities either, because thats not what america stands for. Heck, we once had a famous American blogger named Anwar al-Awlaki who had a really controversial opinion of the american government but did we use a robotic drone to kill him and his son with a missile while he was in Yemen? of course not.

" You could let 1% of the people have all the nation's wealth. You could help your rich friends get richer by cutting their taxes. And bailing them out when they gamble and lose. You could ignore the needs of the poor for health care and education. Your media would appear free, but would secretly be controlled by one person and his family. You could wiretap phones. You could torture foreign prisoners. You could have rigged elections. You could lie about why you go to war. You could fill your prisons with on

The very computer you are typing on would not exist if not for capitalism. Profit drives all and makes us better off. Resources are finite and those that work for them will get them. Being tired at the end of the day doesn't make you a hard worker.

I was worried for a minute that there might be a discussion about a country other than the US on Slashdot. However no need to fear, the egocentric dipstick brigade is on it, making sure to try and steer any and all discussion back to America. I mean we can't possibly want to talk about the rest of the world, nobody is from there, nobody cares what happens. Instead let's make sure to focus any and all discussion on America. That's the only way!

Seriously, knock it the fuck off. There is a wider world out there, and some of that world visits Slashdot. They might be interested in some stories about thing other than the US. Heck, for that matter people in the US might be interested in stories about the rest of the world since it is all interconnected.

I get really tired of the ego brigade on/. that has to try and steer every single conversation back to the US. Story about Russia? Talk about how the US is worse and then rail on about that. Story about Canada? Talk about how it would be if the US did it and then rail on about that. No matter what the story, move the discussion back to the US.

Just stop it. If there's a topic about Russia, well let's talk about that. If that doesn't interest you, kindly keep your silence so that people can talk about it. If the NSA spying interests you, then comment in those discussions, of which there are many.

Slashdot is an American site and thus American centric in its reporting but it is not US exclusive. Stop trying to make it that way. Your ego can deal with something not being about the US once and awhile.

He was a senior recruiter for Al Queda and actively involved in terrorist plots against the US and actively making propaganda for an organization at war with the United States. Our only mistake is that we didn't strip of his citizenship when he was caught by Yemen participating in an Al Queda plot to kidnap the US military attache. He was at large for 4 years, if he felt he was wrongly accused why not get a lawyer and arrange to turn himself in. Its not like he couldnt call the FBI anytime he wanted an arra

Shush, you! Don't ruin a good story about how the press is censored in the US.

And I love these books; "The Top Censored Stories and Media Analysis of YYYY" Um... Wait. Why are these books censored? Ah! These stories weren't censored, nobody gave a damn. Governments don't need to censor when the public is kept fat and lazy.

There's no point for the administration to go fry big names like the NY Times or Washington Post when all they were doing is re-reporting material already obtained by foreign press.

Now imagine what would have happened if Snowden had provided his materials only to the NY Times. Oh, wait, we don't have to imagine. We know what would have happened because previous leakers did that, only to find the NYT was already under the thumb and they chose not to publish. In fact Snowden explicitly said he wasn't going to trust American media to publish things about the NSA because they had a history of self censorship in this regard, causing them huge embarrassment.

And what else could he have done to get people aware? If he'd just gone up to a news organisation and said he had proof the government was spying on citizens but he couldn't show it to them, he'd have been politely turned away and laughed at behind his back. The documents are the proof - without them, he'd just another foil-hatter.

In the US, free speech is a blacklist-based phenomenon. There's a few things that are illegal to say - like 'Fire' in the theater - for example. If it's not listed, it's probably fair game, and you can't be jailed for it. Thus; westboro baptists and illinois nazis.

In many places in the world, it seems like the definition of free speech refers to the fact that there's a government-approved whitelist - here are the things you are allowed to talk about/say, anything not on the list are disallowed and legal offenses. Anything that's not explicitly on the list (and often times, even if it is) is subject to prosecutions. Heck, it's standard in these places to claim that opposing political parties are, by their language alone, seditionists, and have them locked up. In part, this is why there's outrage against the US that we allow hate speech and open protest; in other countries, that requires a mandate by the government, explicit approval.

Even in western, supposedly enlightened countries, there are onerous restrictions; check out slander laws in England, Germany's stance on anything Nazi-related, or France's many, many restrictions - for example, it's illegal to criticize a public employee (though I have no idea if it's actually enforced).

Calling this 'free speech' is like calling tax laws in the US 'voluntary taxes'.

What we're describing here is not a "tightening grip on free speech". It's just "additional regulations" on a locked down system where participating is the exception, not the rule. The only thing free about it is that one is "free" to follow all the rules, or shut up.

Free speech is the right to voice your opinion, and not to induce panic and harm people. There are no white/black lists, each country have just different understanding of what is covered by free speech rights. If you shout "Fire" in a theatre where is no fire, it is not free speech, but you want to harm people. You want that people panic and rush out of the theatre. How is that free speech? Likewise, slander is not free speech because you want to harm people. Your rights end where it starts to infringe on o

You don't know what you're talking about. Putin has been in the office of President of Russia or Prime minister for over 15 years. Is he authoritarian? yes. But next Stalin? Please.

By the time Stalin completed his first 15 years as the leader of Soviet communist party, he already managed to murder millions of Soviet people. Stalin's great purge of 1937, resulted in the murder of over 600,000 people while millions of people starved to their deaths in the Holodomor.

Putin remains very "popular". Hitler was "popular". 97% of people don't really need or use their freedom of speech to an extent that it threatens the establishment.

On a hopeful note, historically, Hitler's tightening control produced "brain drain" among his most talented scientists and engineers. Societies which resort to these kinds of controls usually fail to keep apace with modernization. It's the fallacy of "surgery of thuggery". When totalitarians intend to surgically intimidate just a few vocal intelligencia, their "tools" or administrative enforcers (gestapo) are too clumsy and over-reach, intimidating brilliant people in unintended manners. This same thing happens in the USA business regulatory environment, if a state government gives too much authority to its regulators, businesses move elsewhere.

And why do you compare Putin with Hitler? Why does every authoritarian leader draw comparisons with Hitler?

Hitler rounded up millions of "undesirables", such as Jews, communists, and prisoners of war in concentration camps and had them murdered or starved to death. What was the figure, 10-12million people? He wrote that hideous book called Mein Kampf which was the manifest for everything he was going to do. I don't see any parallels with Putin here.

I'm so glad that some countries have the courage to deal with this internet thing properly. I mean really folks, we can't have people running around spouting their ideas, disrupting the natural order of society. It's about time some one took affirmative action against this abomination that is the internet. The though of ordinary people saying what they want, doing what they want, making what they want, and OMG sharing what they want - It's just crazy! The internet needs people with a higher purpose to con

Say you have 100 different blogs with different names, different usernames for the admin, slightly different looks etc. but they all conveniently re-blog the same content. Next, you have a domain name that points to a load-balancing server which hosts no web content, but redirect the traffic so that none of these blogs hit the control quota. If one approaches the quota, the load-balancer will detect it and shut that particular blog down. A single-source DoS attack won't work against this system because that

Every foreign search engine, blogging platform, or other covered entity just blocks all Russian originated IPs. Homegrown solutions may spring up to replace them, but the hassle ought to at least take this from "quietly" to "amid widespread condemnation and protest from Russians". Plus, who wants to be complicit in this kind of stupid BS?

I have a client that we're going to be getting some software for - not a major purchase, none of the alternatives being considered are even over $300. Of the two leading options, one is produced by a Russian firm, and that alone is making me less likely to choose it.Admittedly in this case there aren't any major differences in functionality, and we may end up with the Russian one after all if testing shows its interface is easier to use/train on, but it's the first time I recall actually looking into and co

"No, of course I don't have 3000 visitors a day! My site is automatically limited to 2500. It's funny though, the first 250 visitors every day take my posts and repost them on their sites. But that's their responsibility, not mine... but since my site has passed it's daily quota, here's links to sites with 'similar content'..."

Seriously. This is a stupid law.

We can easily just stop using blog 'websites', and instead post to public newsgroups. Or use RSS & other syndication & mirror tools.

What is to stop someone from creating a blog and posting from various public hotspots? From using VPS's and a whole whack of other tools. As much as the State likes to play the Almighty Knower Of All, there are still plenty of ways you can evade them. Think of it as the Samizdat of our day. If you have purpose and some trustworthy people, you can speak truth to power.

After the US government doing so many things to encourage people to host services outside of America, Russia returns the favor. This could result in greater cooperation between the two peoples, as we can now cross-serve either other. You host our pirate search engines, we'll host your politics blog.

The UK also introduced regulation of larger commercial blogs that publish "news type" material, part of the recommendations of the Leveson enquiry into press standards. Large blogs have to sign up to a press regulator, if not they get fined. It does not matter where the Blog's servers are located, if someone downloads content in the UK, it is published it in the UK and they can be held responsible ("Downloading here can count as publication in the law.").

Links:"Press regulation deal sparks fears of high libel fines for bloggers - Websites could have to pay exemplary damages if they don't sign up to new regulator, claim opponents of Leveson deal [theguardian.com] "

I don't think I'll ever understand why anybody ever distrusts an article when the news outlet specifically calls out who said what, which is exactly what Fox did.

Honestly, people who do that shit are no better than the news organizations that they lambaste on a daily basis. I mean fuck, Fox News even paints republicans in more of a negative light in that article.

Except, now the mere act of making a blog post or a Twitter comment or a Facebook update will be illegal if you have over 3,000 followers, are somewhat anonymous (i.e. use a screen name and not your real name), and don't register. Then, since you've done something illegal, the government will have "just cause" to track you down and arrest you. Never assume that you can't be tracked down by anyone ever. All it takes is one slip and the government will have their "dangerous blogger."

So if they don't register and do blog anonymously and hide their IP, how are they going to catch them?

VKontakte has for years now required giving a mobile phone number (in Russia, your ID goes into a government database when you purchase a SIM card) to sign up, to prevent anonymous commentary then. The same may already be true of LiveJournal, one of the country's most popular blogging platforms. There will always be a few people who have the savvy to stay anonymous, but a lot of the small-scale bloggers pr